Valberg: Tête de Charnaye loop

 In search of a short hike near Valberg, we came across this nice and relaxing loop starting from Col de l’Espaul (1749 m). We knew the col from many previous hikes.

Leaving Col de l'Espaul

La Roya Haute Valberg

Above Col des Huerris

Péone and Tête de Méric

Crête de la Maure southern flank

Crête de l'Houesti

Chicken fricassee with mushrooms

Fricassee is sometimes described as “halfway between a sauté and a stew”, sauté has no liquid added while a stew includes liquid. In a fricassee, cut-up meat is first sauteed , but not browned, and is then simmered in liquid.

English fricassees were usually thickened with egg yolks, like in this old recipe from countess of Ségur. She was a French writer who also cultivated good life style and eating well. The following recipe is my twist of her recipe in the French magazine ELLE. 

2 servings

2 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Olive oil

2 handfuls of sliced mushrooms, champignons de Paris

1 egg yolk

300 ml chicken stock

100 g heavy cream

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley

Warm 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat in a heavy cocotte such as Le Creuset. Sauté the chicken for a few minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and some black pepper and continue sautéing for a while. Add the chicken stock, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Warm 2 tbsp . olive oil in a frying pan and cook the sliced mushrooms until golden brown. Set aside.

Remove the chicken from the cocotte and set aside. Increase the heat somewhat and reduce the chicken stock by half. Then reduce the heat again to low.

Whisk the egg yolk with the cream in a bowl and pour the mixture into the cocotte. Stir on a low heat. Add the chicken and mushrooms into the cocotte and stir.

Serve the fricassee over quinoa or brown rice and decorate with chopped parsley.

Péone: Col de Crous

The real lure of the hike from la Baumette (Péone) to Col de Crous (2204 m) lies in the dramatic Alpine landscape higher up in the Tuébi Valley. In the 1930s, fortifications were constructed at the mountain pass as part of the Maginot line. Many of them were never completed.

Today Col de Crous is also one of the gateways to the Mercantour National Park.

After reaching Péone, we drove up to la Baumette (at 1470 m and 3,5 km to the north) where the road ended next to Chapelle Saint Jean Baptiste. 100 m further north, near some houses, we located signpost #94, our trailhead.

Start from la Baumette

North of la Baumette

Crossing rockslides

Easy stretch to Col de Crous

Large rockslide

Impressive geology under Col de Crous

Under Col de Crous

At Col de Crous

Tuébi upper valley

Clementine sauce for scallops or fish

Clementine is a hybrid of mandarin and sweet orange. The clementine season in the South of France is from November to January. Most of the French clementines are cultivated in Corsica.

The following sauce recipe is perfect for scallops but also for fish such as salmon or halibut. In the recipe, two clementines can be replaced by one orange. 

2- 3 servings

2 organic clementines (or 1 orange)

3 tbsp. olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

A pinch of salt, optional

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped chives to decorate

Grate the zest of the clementines. Peel and chop them. Warm 1 tbsp. olive oil in a saucepan over low heat. Add the clementines and their zest and infuse for about 20 minutes.

With a handheld mixer, purée the clementines with 2 tbsp olive oil, juice of ½ lemon, and some black pepper. Press the purée through a sieve for a smooth sauce.

Divide the sauce on the plates and top with seared scallops. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve with a good country bread to mop up the sauce from the plates.

Vars: Forest loop above Ste-Marie

The following hike above Ste-Marie in Vars (1638 m) followed ancient farming trails on the western side of the village. Some of the farmhouses seemed now to be secondary residences or gites. 

Leaving Ste-Marie

St-Marcellin Vars

View to north from trail

Near Rebrun Vars

Great forest in Vars

Near 1901 m crossroads

Crête de Vars

Pointe de Razis

Peyrol Lake

Trail to Ste-Marie